“Interestingly, while the yen has unwound, other safe-haven assets such as gold haven’t seen much movement at all,” said Stan Shamu, market strategist at IG Markets in Melbourne. “Perhaps this highlights the degree of cautiousness investors are still exercising at the moment.”

AFP/Getty Images

Gold, which on Friday notched its first weekly rise on a nearby futures basis in three weeks, held gains even as concerns about Iraq and Ukraine seemed to fade, allowing equities and other assets perceived as risky to gain ground. Asian stocks closed mostly higher; European stocks rallied and U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher start for Wall Street.

Traditional safe havens other than gold traded lower, with U.S. Treasurys
US:10_YEAR
and the Japanese yen
USDJPY, -0.05%
both showing modest weakness.

Islamist extremists who had overrun parts of Iraq retreated in an area hit by U.S. airstrikes over the weekend, giving up some territory they had taken from Kurdish forces. U.S. stocks were boosted Friday, while gold and other safe havens lost some ground after Russia’s state news agency ran a story that indicated Moscow was looking for a way to de-escalate tensions over Ukraine. See: Ukraine trumps Iraq: The 3 biggest geopolitical worries.

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